AT513452B1 - Dispensing device for medicaments - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing liquids (12), in particular liquid medicaments to persons, comprising my container (1) filled with the liquid (12) and having at one end an opening (11) for dispensing the liquid (12). at least one pair of capacitive measuring electrodes (21, 22) arranged outside, in particular on the wall, of the container (1), for determining the permittivity of the respective medium in the intermediate region between the measuring electrodes, one surrounding the measuring electrodes (21, 22) and around the shield (3) arranged in the container (1), the shield (3) being formed as foil (31) coated with conductors (32, 33, 34) in the form of strip conductors, in particular wound around the container (1), and in that the conductors (32, 33, 34) are loop-free and / or free of closed conductor loops.

Description

Astrophytic AT513 452B1 2014-08-15

The invention relates to a dispensing device for dispensing liquids, in particular liquid medicaments to persons, according to the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for determining and validating the filling level in a container according to the preamble of claim 17.

The invention can be used in particular in healthcare, for example in medical technology, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, medicine and care, studies, etc. for monitoring the delivery of drugs to patients.

Various devices for dispensing liquids are known from the prior art, in which the discharged liquid is determined capacitively.

From US 4237878 A (KOBAYSHI ET AL.), For example, a drop fluid level detector for a medical fluid is known, which has a pair of electrodes disposed opposite to a drip chamber and the remaining amount of medical fluid through the changes in the electrostatic capacitance between the pair of electrodes recognizes. Further, US 4749988 A (BERMANN ET AL.) Describes a non-invasive liquid level sensor assembly having a pair of conductive ribbon electrodes which are aligned parallel to each other in close proximity and measure the liquid level by the change in electrical capacitance between the electrodes ,

The object of the present invention is to effectively detect malfunctions in capacitive level detection and to enable an invalidation of capacitive level measurement results. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to obtain the best possible and reliable results.

The invention solves this problem in a dispensing device of the type mentioned above with the characterizing feature of claim 1.

In addition, the invention solves the problem in a method of the type mentioned above with the feature of the characterizing part of claim 17th

[0009] According to the invention, a dispenser for dispensing liquids, in particular liquid medicaments to persons, provides: [0009] a container filled with the liquid, which has an opening for dispensing the liquid at one end, and [0010] at least one pair of capacitive measuring electrodes arranged opposite one another in the outer region, in particular on the wall, of the container for determining the permittivity of the respective medium in the intermediate region between the measuring electrodes, comprising a shield which surrounds the measuring electrodes in an envelope-like manner and is arranged around the container, [0011] wherein the shield as coated with conductors in the form of conductor tracks, in particular special wound around the container or arranged, film is formed, and-that the conductor loop-free and / or are formed free of closed conductor loops.

Disturbances that are caused by the contact of the container during the measurement process due to capacitive effects are effectively avoided with the invention. In particular, it can be avoided by the inventive measure that touching the measuring electrodes by the hands of a human or a falsification of the field in the region of the measuring electrodes by the hands of a person lead to changes in the level measurement.

Advantageously, the shield may be formed as coated with conductor tracks of electrically conductive material film. In a preferred embodiment, this film is arranged or wound around the container. Such a shield prevents the 1/25

Urban Metropolitan AT513 452 B1 2014-08-15

Falsification of measurement results particularly advantageous.

Advantageously, the area between the liquid and the measuring electrodes is free of the shield.

In order to avoid a deterioration of the measurement results due to influences of the shield, it can be provided that the shield is spaced from the measuring electrodes in the radial direction.

In order to achieve an improved shielding and at the same time to allow a mounting of a semiconductor chip and an antenna in the region of the shield or on the film, it can be provided that the shield coated with conductors in the form of conductor tracks, in particular wound around the container , Foil is formed, wherein preferably on the film, a capacitance measuring circuit, a computing unit and a communication controller, in particular in the form of a semiconductor chip, and an antenna are applied.

In order to avoid a radio communication with the antenna impairing change of the electromagnetic field generated by an external data communication device and at the same time to allow a good electrical shielding of the measuring electrodes, it can be provided that the conductor loop-free and / or are formed free of closed conductor loops ,

E ine particularly advantageous embodiment of a shield that can be used simultaneously for touch detection and also allows wireless communication with an antenna applied to the shield, provides that three separate conductors are formed on the film, wherein the first and the second Ladder are designed as intermeshing comb conductor and the third conductor is formed meandering between the two comb conductors.

A preferred measure for determining the level of the liquid in the interior of the container provides that the two opposite measuring electrodes are connected to a capacitance measuring device.

For easy determination of the level can be provided that the capacitance value determined by the capacitance measuring device is supplied to a computing unit, which determines the level of the liquid in the container and at its output available due to the determined capacitance value by means of a predetermined stored calibration function.

A particularly effective shielding with good shielding effect can be achieved by one of the three conductors, in particular the second conductor designed as a comb conductor, is connected to the ground connection of the capacitance measuring device.

In order to be able to determine advantageous contacts or falsifications of the capacitance measurement, a contact sensor arranged outside or in the region of the shield, in particular capacitive, can be provided.

A production-technical easy to manufacture variant provides that the touch sensor comprises the first comb conductor and the meandering conductor of the shield as sensor electrodes.

In this case, it may be provided for the detection of touches that the sensor electrodes of the touch sensor are connected to a further capacitance measuring device, and that preferably the further capacitance value determined by the further capacitance measuring device is supplied to the arithmetic unit, and the arithmetic unit in the event that the determined further capacity value exceeds a predetermined threshold value, suppressed the forwarding of the level determined by it or marks as invalid.

An advantageous container for holding liquids, which can be emptied easily and its level can be easily determined, provides that the container is a terpoltisches pSfeStilfSi AT513 452B1 2014-08-15

Internal volume having a constant internal cross-section apart from the region of the opening, wherein a container and the liquid contained therein sealing and sealing piston is provided, whose outer cross-section corresponds to the cross-section of the inner volume of the container and which is arranged displaceably in the interior of the container, so as the piston advances toward the opening, the liquid is discharged through the opening from the container.

For a more accurate determination of the level can be provided that the container a plurality of pairs of additional measuring electrodes are arranged, in particular for each pair of additional measuring electrodes each having an additional pair of additional measuring electrodes downstream capacitance measuring device is provided, the determined capacitance value to the arithmetic unit.

An advantageous electrode arrangement, which allows an accurate level determination, provides that each paired measuring electrodes facing each other in the circumferential direction of the container, in particular diametrically, and in particular in the direction of the advance of the piston are at the same height.

In this case, in addition to improving the detection accuracy may be provided that each adjacent pairs of measuring electrodes in the direction of advance of the piston are arranged spaced and / or that the width of the measuring electrodes in the direction of advancement of the piston corresponds to the width of the piston in the feed direction ,

Preferred embodiments of the measuring electrodes with a simple structure provide, that the measuring electrodes are arranged areally on the outer surface of the container and in particular have the shape of a rectangle, a triangle, a trapezoid or a parallelogram, and / or [0031] that two of the measuring electrodes assigned to each other in pairs are formed by two intermeshing comb conductors, which are arranged in the outer region, in particular on the outer wall, of the container.

To allow easy replacement of the container, it can be provided that outside the container between the container and the shield, a carrier is arranged, on which the measuring electrodes are arranged, wherein the carrier is preferably applied to the container and / or that the Measuring electrodes are arranged on the voltage applied to the container wall of the carrier.

Advantageously, the determined level can be transmitted to an external communication device. It can be provided that a communication controller with a downstream antenna is connected to the arithmetic unit. Advantageously, it may be provided for a more space-saving arrangement that the antenna is arranged in the outer region of the shield or directly on the shield, but not electrically conductively connected thereto.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for determining and validating the level in a container which is arranged in particular in a dispensing device according to the invention, wherein at least one pair of outside in the container arranged opposite each other, in particular provided with an outer shield, measuring electrodes for Capacitance measurement is provided, wherein the capacitance between the two measuring electrodes is determined and a fill level value is determined on the basis of the determined capacitance according to a predetermined calibration function. [0035] According to the invention, such a method is provided, that a further capacitance with in the outer area of the Measuring electrodes in the field of

Shielding, in particular on the shield, arranged conductors is determined, - that the further capacity is compared with a threshold, and that the level value only as valid if the remaining capacity is below the threshold.

With such a method can be easily checked whether the determined level value has been falsified by the fact that a person has touched the measuring electrodes or the shield in the region of the measuring electrodes or the measuring electrodes has come sufficiently close to cause a falsification.

For accurate determination of the fill level, it may be provided that the fill level value and / or a statement about the validity of the fill level value is transmitted by coded electromagnetic data transmission, in particular by load modulation, to an external data communication device.

For the same purpose it can be provided that in each case the capacitances of a plurality of, in particular three, pairs of measuring electrodes, which face each other in the outer region of the container, are determined and the fill level value is determined on the basis of the capacities.

A particularly accurate detection is made possible by a) providing, for a number of filling levels, reference vectors each comprising the capacitances between the individual pairs of measuring electrodes as components, and b) each of these vectors being the respective ones Level), c) a vector comprising the individual ascertained capacitances is determined, d) a number of reference vectors is sought, which have the least, in particular Euclidean, distance from the vector, e) an interpolation function which, when applied to the reference vectors found in step b), results in the respective fill level associated with these reference vectors, f) the interpolation function is applied to the vector and the result is taken as the fill level.

Several preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the following drawing figures.

In Fig. 1, a first embodiment of a dispensing device according to the invention is shown in side view. 2 shows a completely filled container in the form of an ampoule in side view. Fig. 3 shows a partially emptied container in side view. Fig. 4 shows a completely empty container in side view. Fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a container with three pairs of measuring electrodes. Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of the invention with a single pair of measuring electrodes. Fig. 7 shows a further embodiment of the invention with a pair of comb-shaped measuring electrodes. Fig. 8 shows a further embodiment of the invention with three comb-shaped pairs of measuring electrodes. FIGS. 9a to 12d show further embodiments of containers with obliquely extending electrodes. [0054] [0056] [0056] Fig. 11A shows an embodiment of a Fig. 13 AT513 452 B1 2014-08-15 Device according to the invention in cross section.

FIG. 13 a shows a detail from FIG. 1.

Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 show two means for determining the level within the container half and for transmitting the determined level to an external data communication device.

Fig. 16 shows a shield in the form of a foil with conductors arranged thereon.

17 shows the theoretical course of the individual partial capacities during the emptying of the container in the embodiment shown in FIG. 15.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show the embodiments shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, wherein a touch detection is additionally provided.

In Fig. 1, an embodiment of a dispensing device 100 according to the invention is shown in side view. The illustrated dispenser 100 includes a container 1 filled with a liquid medicament 12. In the present case 12 insulin is used as the liquid medicament, but it is also possible to fill other medicaments 12 in the container 1, such as hormone preparations (eg growth hormones, ...), biopharmaceuticals or medicines used in the course of therapeutic measures in reproductive medicine and subsequently administered in the same way.

The dispenser 100 is in the form of a pen or pen and can be conveniently held in the hand of a patient when administering the liquid 12 in the container 1. The container 1 is in the form of a cartridge or ampoule and is located in an end region 102 of the dispenser 100.

The container 1, which is shown in detail in Fig. 2, at one end, which lies in this end portion 102 of the dispensing device 100, an opening 11 for discharging the liquid 12 on. At the opposite end, the container 1 has a piston 13 which is mounted displaceably in the container 1. For this purpose, the container 1 has an internal volume which, apart from the region of the opening 11, has a constant cross section. The piston 13 closes the container 1 from the opposite side of the opening 11, so that the liquid contained in the container 1 12 is sealed in the container 1 and can escape exclusively through the opening 1. In the present embodiment, the inner region of the container 1 and the piston 13 have a circular cross-section and have a substantially cylindrical inner wall or outer wall. If the piston 13 is advanced into the container 1, the liquid 12 located in the container 1 can escape through the opening 11 from the container 1. Upon advancement of the piston 13 in the direction of the opening 11, the liquid 12 is discharged through the opening 11 from the container 1. However, the opening 11 of the container 1 is closed by a sealing element 14 before use, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the liquid 12 can not escape from the container 1.

Fig. 3 shows the container 1 shown in Fig. 2, after a portion of the liquid 12 has been applied through the opening 11 via an injection needle 103.

Fig. 4 shows the container 1 shown in Fig. 2, after the liquid 12 has been completely emptied from the container 1 through the opening 11 via a hypodermic needle 103. In the illustrations of Figs. 3 and 4, the piston 13 is in a middle position or end position, i. the container 1 is partially (Fig. 3) or completely (Fig. 4) emptied. In the area 15 behind the piston 13 is air. The dispensing device 100 further has, in the region of the opening 11 of the container 1, an injection needle 103 which, on the one hand, penetrates the sealing element 14 and projects into the interior of the container 1 and, on the other hand, protrudes from the dispensing device 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, the injection needle 103 is in this embodiment with 5/25

For example, a housing 104, which is screwed onto the dispensing device 100, is connected to the housing 104. The dispensing device 100 has an external thread 105, which is adapted to a counter-shaped matching internal thread of the housing 104. If the piston 13, as shown in Fig. 3, displaced in the direction of the opening 11, the liquid located inside the container 1 through the opening 11 and the injection needle 103 can be administered to the respective patient. The housing of the dispensing device 100 has two viewing openings 108 in order to be able to visually determine the filling level F of the remaining liquid 12 present in the container 1.

In addition, the dispensing device 100 (FIG. 1) has an adjusting unit 106, with which a specific feed of the piston 13 and, corresponding thereto, a predetermined quantity of the liquid 12 to be dispensed can be preset. After adjusting the amount of the liquid to be dispensed 12, a feed element 109 is pressed against the piston 13 of the container 1 by means of pressure actuation by the patient on an actuating unit 107. The piston 13 is pushed into the container 1 and the liquid 12 located in the container 1 is administered to the patient via the injection needle 103. The advancing element 109 is against a reset against the advancing direction V of the piston 13, i. away from the opening 11, secured, so that the piston 13 can only be moved further in the direction of the opening 11.

Particularly advantageous is the use of a container 1 with three pairs of measuring electrodes, as shown in Fig. 5. The container 1 has, as shown in Fig. 5, three pairs of measuring electrodes 21-26. All measuring electrodes 21-26 are arranged in the outer region of the container 1, in the present case on the outer wall of the container 1. In this preferred embodiment of the invention, two mutually associated measuring electrodes 21-26 are spaced from one another in the circumferential direction on the outer wall of the container 1. The individual pairs of mutually associated measuring electrodes 21-26 are spaced from one another in the feed direction V of the piston 13. The measuring electrodes 25, 26 of the third pair are furthest away from the opening 11 of the container 1. The measuring electrodes 21, 22 of the first pair are closest to the opening 11. The measuring electrodes 23, 24 of the second pair of electrodes are - seen in the feed direction V of the piston 13 - between the measuring electrodes 21,22; 25, 26 of the first and third pairs. The measuring electrodes 21-26 lie in a region of the outer wall of the container 1 to this area. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the measuring electrodes 21-26 have a rectangular shape. If a plurality of pairs of electrodes is used, it may be advantageous if the extent of a pair of electrodes in the feed direction V of the piston 13 corresponds to the extent of the piston 13 in its feed direction V.

Alternatively, however, other electrode shapes, such as circular or comb-like electrode shapes, may be used for the measuring electrodes 21-26. Although the use of several pairs of measuring electrodes 21-26 is fundamentally advantageous in the sense of an accurate measurement of the liquid content or liquid level in elongate containers 1, it is not necessary in the case of short or compact containers 1. In an alternative embodiment of a container 1 shown in Fig. 6, only a single pair of measuring electrodes 21, 22 are provided, which are elongated and extending over the entire feed area. The two measuring electrodes 21, 22 are circumferentially opposite each other at the same height with respect to the feed direction V of the piston 13.

Moreover, it is also possible to use different shapes of measuring electrodes 21-26. An advantageous embodiment provides that the measuring electrodes 21-26 are formed as comb electrodes or interdigital electrodes. The measuring electrodes 21-26 are associated with each other in pairs and have a comb structure, wherein the teeth of mutually associated measuring electrodes 21, 22; 23, 24; 25, 26 interlock. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, comb electrodes may be used both for a device having one (FIG. 7) and a plurality of pairs of measuring electrodes 21, 22; 23, 24; 25, 26 are used. Depending on the application, it is also possible to provide differently sized measuring electrodes 21-26 in order to allow a particularly advantageous determination of the filling level F in the container 1. Particularly advantageous is the use of parallelogram or triangular measuring electrodes 21-26, in which the electrodes are separated from one another by separation regions 27 which extend at an angle to the feed direction V of the piston or the longitudinal axis of the container 1, for example at an angle of 45 ° , With such an arrangement, a smooth transition results, so that a particularly accurate determination of the level F is possible. FIGS. 9a to 12d show four different embodiments with separation regions 27 between the measuring electrodes 21-26, which are at an angle to the feed direction V. Furthermore, in these embodiments, an axis-parallel separation region 28 is provided, each of which mutually associated pairs of measuring electrodes 21, 22; 23, 24; 25, 26 separates each other.

With all such electrode arrangements, it is possible, due to the capacitance between the measuring electrodes 21-26, to close the filling level F of the container 1. In order to enable the most accurate possible measurement of the individual capacitances Ci, C2, C3 and thus to draw a conclusion on the filling level F of the container 1, the invention provides for a dispensing device, an electrical shield 3 for electric fields outside the measuring electrodes 21- 26 shell-shaped to arrange the container 1. In Fig. 13 a section through the container 1 is shown, which represents the shield 3, the measuring electrodes 21, 22, the wall of the container and the liquid 12 in the interior of the container 1. The shielding 3 has the effect that the capacitance measured between the electrodes 21, 22 is not or only to a negligible extent falsified when a person touches or approaches the dispensing device 100 and thereby alters the electrical field conditions prevailing at the measuring electrodes 21, 22. In a first embodiment of the invention, the shield 3 is formed as a film of electrically conductive material, for example, as a copper foil with a thickness of 50 pm, which is wrapped around the container 1 and the voltage applied to this measuring electrodes 21, 22. The measuring electrodes 21, 22 and the shield 3 are separated from each other and are not conductively connected to each other. The shield 3 serves to suppress the influence of external influences, e.g. Changes in the permittivity and electric fields in the immediate outer region of the measuring electrodes 21,22. The shielding 3 surrounds both the measuring electrodes 21, 22 and the container 1 and is advantageously not located between the measuring electrodes and the container 1.

Clearly shows the arrangement of the wall of the container 1 relative to the electrodes 21, 23, 25 as well as the Shielding 3. The individual conductors 32-34 on the film 3 are shown in section. Outside the shield 3, the housing of the dispenser 100 is located.

Alternatively, it is also possible to arrange the shield 3 immediately outside the outer wall of the dispensing device 100 and / or outside of a carrier 1 at least partially enclosing the container.

To determine the instantaneous fill level F of the liquid 12 in container 1, the available capacity between the measuring electrodes 21, 22 is first determined. FIG. 14 shows a measuring arrangement for determining the capacitance of a single pair of measuring electrodes 21, 22. Fig. 15 shows a measuring arrangement using a plurality of pairs of measuring electrodes 21-26. In FIGS. 14 and 15, a computing unit 6 in the form of a microcontroller is provided in each case, to which one or three capacitance measuring devices 41, 42, 43 are connected upstream. Each pair of measuring electrodes 21-26 is assigned one of the capacitance measuring devices 41, 42, 43 shown in FIG. 15. The measuring electrodes 21-26 are connected to the terminals of the capacitance measuring devices 41, 42, 43, respectively. At the output of the capacitance measuring devices 41, 42, 43 there is respectively a respective capacitance measured value C 1, C 2, C 3 which corresponds to the respective capacitance of the respective electrode pair and which is representative of this or which is transmitted to the arithmetic unit 6. Due to the individual 7/25

In the case of transmitted capacitance measurement values Ci, C2, C3, the arithmetic unit 6 determines a value for the fill level F on the basis of a calibration process described later. The arithmetic unit 6 holds this value at its output. This value can in particular be transmitted on request via an antenna 62 connected downstream of the arithmetic unit 6 to an external data communication device (not shown).

Of course, the number of used pairs of measuring electrodes 21-26 can be adapted to the requirements of the accuracy of the measurement. In particular, it is also possible to use a single pair of measuring electrodes 21, 22 and to use only the capacitance measurement value Ci determined between these measuring electrodes 21, 22 to determine the filling level F. (FIG. 15) The computing unit 6 is followed by a communication controller 61, which is connected to an antenna 62, in the present case a coil antenna. The communication controller 61 allows the transmission of the determined level F to an external data communication device. In addition, it can also be provided that the external data communication device transmits electrical energy via the antenna 62 to the communication controller 61, the arithmetic unit 6, as well as to the capacitance measuring devices 41-43, so that the entire circuit shown in FIG. 14 or FIG works without a separate power supply.

In the following, the concrete determination of the level F of the liquid 12 in the container 1 is shown in greater detail on the basis of the ascertained capacity measured values Ci, C2, C3. In FIG. 17, the dependence of the individual capacitance measurement values Ci, C2, C3 on the fill level F in the embodiment of a container 1 according to the invention shown in FIG. 5 is shown schematically. At the beginning of the emptying process of the container 1, initially only the liquid 12 is located between the measuring electrodes 21-26. In the course of the emptying, the piston 13 first enters the intermediate region between the measuring electrodes 21, 22 of the first measuring electrode pair, so that due to the lower permittivity of the piston 13 relative to the liquid 12, a continuous lowering of the capacitance measured value Ci of the first pair of measuring electrodes can be observed. After the piston 13 has been pushed through the intermediate region between the measuring electrodes 21, 22 of the first measuring electrode pair, there is air 15 between the two measuring electrodes 21, 22 of the first pair of measuring electrodes. Due to the still lower permittivity of the air between the two measuring electrodes 21, 22 of the first one Measuring electrode pair decreases between the measuring electrodes 21, 22 measured capacitance value Ci still further. A similar behavior is also to be noted for the capacitance measurements C2, C3 between the measuring electrodes 23-26 of the second and third pair of measuring electrodes when the container 1 is emptied.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the sum Csum of the individual capacitance measurement values Ci, C2, C3 can be used to determine the fill level F. By determining a calibration curve, the corresponding total CSUm of the individual capacitance measurement values Ci, C2, C3 can be determined in each case for a number of different fill levels, wherein each fill level F is assigned a sum CSUm in each case. The individual data records produced in this way, each comprising a capacitance measurement CSUm and a fill level F, are stored in a calibration memory in the arithmetic unit 6.

After the measurement and determination of the individual capacitance values C-1, C2, C3, their sum CSUm is determined and compared with the individual sums Csum stored in the calibration memory. The pair whose associated sum CSUm best matches the sum of the ascertained capacitance measurement values Ci, C2, C3 is selected. The filling level F of the container 1 assigned to the best matching sum Csum is regarded as filling level F of the container 1, and the arithmetic unit 6 holds this level F at its output and supplies the filling level F, as described above, via an antenna 62 to an external one Data communication device from.

The practice shows, apparently due to complex capacitive coupling phenomena of the measuring electrodes 21-26 with each other also very different courses of the measured Kapa 8/25 ästirreichisöies pstwstarei AT513 452B1 2014-08-15

Quotations C 1, C 2, C 3 as a function of the fill level F, which deviate significantly from the theoretically expected progressions shown in FIG. 17. However, the measurable curve courses are very well reproducible and show different slopes in different ones for each capacitance C 1, C 2, C 3 Curve sections or level ranges, contrary to the theoretical expectations, the greatest steepness of the curve or the largest change in capacitance does not necessarily occur between those measuring electrodes 21-26 between which is just the liquid level. However, as greater slope means better measurement resolution / accuracy, a weighted sum may be used to calculate the level alternatively to forming a simple sum of the three single capacitance measurements, with each of the three summands having its own weight separately in each curve segment the calibration is determined.

In order to achieve a conversion between individual capacities Ci, C2, C3 and a level F, a calibration is carried out in which the filled with the drug container 1 or a reference container of identical design is emptied. During emptying, the fill level F and the individual capacities Ci, C2, C3 are determined in each case. For each of the fill levels F occupied during the emptying, individual capacity values Ci, C2, C3 are thus available. In the present embodiment, 30 equidistant fill levels F are taken during the emptying, wherein the initial state is denoted by 1 and the completely empty state by 0. The capacitance values Ci, C2, C3 are each stored in a reference vector Vref, which is assigned to the respective fill level F and the respective weights a, b, c. For each level F, a reference vector Vref is thus available. The weights are determined by optimization such that the weighted sum a. Ci + b. C2 + c. C3 represents a linear approximation for the level F.

If one now wants to determine the actual fill level F on the basis of capacitance values Ci, C2, C3 determined by measurement, this can be done on the basis of the weights determined during the calibration, with as many weights available for each measurement as capacitance values C2, C3 were determined. First of all, on the basis of the determined or measured capacitance values Ci, C2, C3, a vector Vmess [Ci, C2, C3] is created, which has the capacitance values Ci, C2, C3 as components. Subsequently, the vector Vmess is compared with the determined reference vectors Vref and the one reference vector is sought which has the least distance to the vector Vmess. In the present embodiment, the Euclidean distance is used as the distance measure. Subsequently, those reference vectors Vref are determined which each have the next smallest distance to the vector Vmess. An interpolating function, for example a linear interpolation function, is determined which, when applied to the reference vectors Vref determined by calibration, returns the fill level F assigned to each of them. The capacitance values Ci, C2, C3 are inserted into the interpolation function and an averaged level value is obtained.

For reasons of space, the antenna 62 can advantageously be arranged on the outside of the screen 3. In order to ensure an advantageous combination, the shield 3 comprises a foil 31 of an electrically and magnetically non-conductive material, such as e.g. Plastic on. On the film 31, shown in Fig. 16, conductors 32-34 are applied in the form of conductor tracks. If the conductors 32-34 are formed on the film 31 such that there are no large-scale conductor loops in which eddy currents can form, the electromagnetic waves emitted by the external data communication device are not significantly affected by the shield 3 and can be received by the antenna 62 become. Furthermore, this also makes it possible to transmit energy in the form of electromagnetic waves to the antenna 62, which is sufficient to supply sufficient power to the antenna connected to the electrical components.

If an additional accuracy in the determination of the level F inside the container 1 is required, it may be provided that a measured value for the level F is then invalidated or invalidated when the electric field in the outer region of the container. 1 , eg by touching or approaching electrically conductive body or 9/25

Sspensure AT513 452 B1 2014-08-15 body with high dielectric permittivity has been falsified.

The shield 3 has an electrically and magnetically non-conductive foil 31, on which a plurality of conductors 32, 33, 34 are formed by coating. The film 31 is in the present embodiment made of flexible plastic. The conductor tracks have a layer thickness of about 50 pm and a width of about 1000 pm. Advantageously, widths of the conductors 32-34 are between 100 pm and 3000 pm.

In order to avoid the formation of eddy currents and thereby a deterioration of an NFC communication, the width of the conductors 32-34 can be limited to less than 3 mm. In addition, as shown in Fig. 16, conductors 32-34 may be loop-free, i. free of closed conductor loops, be formed, i. do not include closed loops to sufficiently prevent the formation of eddy currents and avoid interference with NFC communication while also avoiding capacitive interference with the sensing electrodes 21-26 located within the shield 3.

In this particular embodiment of the invention, therefore, two of the three conductors 32, 33 are formed as interdigitated comb conductors 32, 33, the third conductor 34 extends meandering between the two comb conductors 32, 33. In addition to this embodiment, there are of course also a variety Further embodiments of the loop-free arrangement of a plurality of interconnects or electrodes not electrically connected to one another on the surface of a film 31 or in the interior or between individual layers of a multi-layered film. Also, both the front and back of the film 31 may be printed with conductors 32-34. Alternatively, a plurality of meander-shaped conductors 34 can be arranged side by side between the comb conductors 32, 33 or a plurality of conductors 34 can be arranged spirally on the film 31.

Two conductor tracks, namely one of the two comb conductors 32 and the meandering conductor 34, are used as touch sensor 5. The second comb conductor 33 is set to a predetermined ground potential and serves as an electrical shield. If a person touches the shield 3 or if the person approaches the shield 3, the capacitance between the conductors 32, 34 of the touch sensor 5 changes due to the change in the permittivity of the environment. The change of this capacitance between the conductors 32, 34 can be changed by means of a further capacitance measuring device 44 are determined, the conductors 32, 34 of the shield 3 and the touch sensor 5 are connected to the measuring terminals of the further capacitance measuring device 44. This further capacitance measuring device 44 determines a further capacitance value C 'and forwards it, as shown in FIG. 18 or FIG. 19, to the arithmetic unit 6. If the change in the determined further capacitance measurement value C 'exceeds a predefined threshold value T, it is assumed that the level F determined on the basis of the capacitance measurement values Ci, C2, C3 is faulty due to the contact. The determined level F is invalidated.

In the present particular embodiment of the invention, a shield 3 is used, which also acts as a touch detection 5 and consists of the comb conductor 32 and the meandering conductor 34. However, from a physical or functional point of view, electrical shielding 3 and touch detection 5 are two completely separate and different units which can be realized particularly advantageously by the concrete arrangement shown in FIG. 16, namely printable in one plane. This functional separation of electrical shielding 3 and touch detection 5 is of course readily possible. For ease of illustration, the conductors 32, 33, 34 of the shielding 3 and the touch detection 5, respectively, lying in a plane of the film 31 have been shown side by side in FIGS. 14, 15, 18, 19.

An alternative embodiment of the invention allows the replacement of the container 1 from the dispensing device 100. Outside the container 1 between the container 1 and the shield 3, a carrier, not shown, is arranged. On this are measuring electrodes 21-26. The carrier is applied to the container 1 and is advantageously by a 10/25

& id * # scSse p3tefSt8fnt AT513 452B1 2014-08-15

Part of the housing of the dispenser 100 is formed. The measuring electrodes 21-26 are arranged on the voltage applied to the container 1 wall of the carrier. The housing of the dispenser 100 can be opened and the container 1 can be removed from the housing of the dispenser 100. The carrier forms part of the dispenser 100.

Advantageously, the communication controller 61, the arithmetic unit 6, the capacitance measuring devices 41-44 and the antenna 62 can be arranged on the film 31. 11/25

Claims (20)

Dispensing device for dispensing liquids (12), in particular liquid medicaments to persons, comprising - a container (1) filled with the liquid (12) one end has an opening (11) for discharging the liquid (12), - at least one pair of capacitive measuring electrodes (21, 22) arranged opposite one another in the outer region, in particular on the wall, of the container (1) for determining the permittivity of the respective one Medium in the intermediate region between the measuring electrodes, a shield (3) surrounding the measuring electrodes (21, 22) in the manner of a shell and arranged around the container (1), characterized in that the shield (3) is designed as having conductors (32, 33, 34 ) in the form of conductor tracks, in particular around the container (1) wound or arranged, film (31) is formed, and - that the conductors (32, 33, 34) loop-free and / or free of gesc enclosed conductor loops are formed. 2. Dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the area between the liquid (12) and the measuring electrodes (21, 22) is free of the shield (3), and / or that the shield (3) of the measuring electrodes (21 , 22) is spaced. 3. Dispensing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the conductors (32, 33, 34) have a thickness of at most 3 mm, in particular between 50 pm and 150 pm. 4. Dispensing device according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that on the film (31) a communication controller (61) and / or a number of capacitance measuring devices for determining the capacitance between the measuring electrodes (21, 22) and / or a computing unit (6) and / or an antenna (62) for transmitting measured values determined by the measuring electrodes (21, 22) or values derived therefrom, in particular fill level values (F), and in that these units arranged on the foil (31) are preferably integrated in a common housing of a semiconductor chip. 5. Dispensing device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that on the film (31) three separate conductors (32, 33, 34) are formed, wherein the first and the second conductor (32, 33) formed as intermeshing comb conductor are and the third conductor (34) formed meander-shaped between the two comb conductors (32, 33). 6. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the two opposite measuring electrodes (21, 22) are connected to a capacitance measuring device (41), and that preferably of the capacitance measuring device (41) determined capacitance value (Ci) of a computing unit (6 ) is supplied, which determines the level (F) of the liquid (12) in the container (1) on the basis of the determined capacitance value (Ci) by means of a predetermined stored calibration function and keeps available at its output. 7. Dispensing device according to claim 6, characterized in that one of the three conductors (32, 33, 34), in particular the second conductor (33) designed as a comb conductor, is connected to the ground connection of the capacitance measuring device (41). 12/25 East European patefstäf ^ t AT513 452 B1 2014-08-15 8. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a outside or in the region of the shield (3) arranged, in particular capacitive, touch sensor (5), wherein preferably the touch sensor (5) the first comb conductor (32) and the meandering conductor (34 ) of the shield (3) as sensor electrodes. 9. Dispensing device according to claim 8, characterized in that the sensor electrodes of the touch sensor (5) are connected to a further capacitance measuring device (44), and that preferably of the further capacitance measuring device (44) determined further capacitance value (C ') of the arithmetic unit (6 ), and the arithmetic unit (6) in the event that the determined further capacitance value (C ') exceeds a predetermined threshold value (T) suppresses the forwarding of the fill level (F) determined by it or marks it as invalid. 10. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (1) has an internal volume which apart from the region of the opening (11) has a constant inner cross-section, wherein a container (1) and the liquid therein (12 ) is provided closing and sealing piston (13) whose outer cross section corresponds to the cross section of the inner volume of the container (1) and which is arranged displaceably in the interior of the container (1), so that upon advancement of the piston (13) to the opening (11) the liquid (12) is discharged through the opening (11) from the container (1). 11. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the container (1) a plurality of pairs of additional measuring electrodes (23, 24, 25, 26) are arranged, in particular to each pair of additional measuring electrodes (23, 24; 25, 26) is provided in each case an additional capacitance measuring device (42, 43) connected downstream of the pair of additional measuring electrodes (23, 24; 25, 26), which outputs the ascertained capacitance value (C2, C3) to the arithmetic unit (6). 12. Dispensing device according to claim 11, characterized in that the respective paired measuring electrodes (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) face one another in the circumferential direction of the container (1), in particular diametrically, and in particular in the direction of the advance of Piston (13) are at the same height. 13. Dispensing device according to claim 12, characterized in that in each case adjacent pairs of measuring electrodes (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) are arranged spaced apart in the direction of advance of the piston (13) and / or that the width of the measuring electrodes ( 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) in the direction (V) of the advance of the piston (13) corresponds to the width of the piston (13) in its feed direction (V). 14. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims 11-13, characterized in that - the measuring electrodes (21, 22; 23, 24; 25, 26) are arranged in a planar manner on the outer surface of the container (1) and in particular the shape of a rectangle, a triangular, a trapezoid or a parallelogram, and / or - that each of the paired measuring electrodes (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) are formed by two intermeshing comb conductors, which in the outer region, in particular on the outer wall , the container (1) are arranged. 15. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims 11-14, characterized in that outside the container (1) between the container (1) and the shield (3) a support is arranged, on which the measuring electrodes (21, 22; 24, 25, 26) are arranged, wherein the carrier preferably rests against the container (1) and / or that the measuring electrodes (21, 22; 23, 24; 25, 26) are arranged on the wall of the carrier adjacent to the container (1) in particular, a part of the housing of the dispensing device (100) is designed as a carrier or the carrier is connected to the housing. 13/25 fctemidtis & it pstetwt AT513 452B1 2014-08-15 16. Dispensing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that connected to the arithmetic unit (6) is a communication controller (61) with a downstream antenna (62), wherein in particular the antenna (62) in the outer region of the shield (3) or directly on the shield (3), with the shield (3) but not electrically conductively connected, is arranged. 17. A method for determining and validating the filling level (F) in a container (1), which is arranged in particular in a dispensing device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one pair of in the outer region of the container (1) arranged opposite each other , Measuring electrodes (21, 22) is provided for capacitance measurement, in particular with an outer shield (3), wherein the capacitance (Ci) between the two measuring electrodes (21, 22) is determined and due to the determined capacitance (Ci) according to a predetermined Calibration function, a filling level value (F) is determined, characterized in that - a further capacitance (C ') in the outer region of the measuring electrodes (21, 22) in the region of the shield (3), in particular on the shield (3), arranged conductors ( 33, 34) is determined, - that the further capacity (C ') is compared with a threshold value (T), and - that the level value (F) only as gül is considered when the additional capacity (C ') is below the threshold (T). 18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the filling level value (F) and / or a statement about the validity of the filling level value (F) by coded electromagnetic data transmission, in particular by load modulation, is transmitted to an external data communication device. 19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that in each case the capacitances (Ci, C2, C3) of a plurality of, in particular three, pairs of measuring electrodes (21-26) which are opposite one another in the outer region of the container (1), be determined and the level value (F) is determined based on the capacities. 20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that a) for a number of filling levels (F) each have a reference vector (Vref) comprising the capacitances (Ci, C2, C3) between the individual pairs of measuring electrodes (21-26) as components and b) each of these vectors is assigned the respective filling level (F), c) a vector (Vmess) comprising the individual determined capacitances (Ci, C2, C3) is determined, d) a number of reference vectors (Vref ), which have the least, in particular Euclidean, distance from the vector (VmeSs), e) an interpolation function is formed which, when applied to the reference vectors (Vref) found in step b), the respective fill level associated with these reference vectors (Vref) (F), f) the interpolation function is applied to the vector (VmeSs) and the result is used as a fill level. For this 11 sheets drawings 14/25